I honestly feel FE9 has the best plot in the series, tho I don’t really consider it good if that makes any sense. That said, I’ll give a good shoutout to the Archenea games and FE4. Archenea for literally being too simple to fuck itself over like MANY games in the series are at fault for, and FE4 for being very consistent/ambitious even if it falls into that category of fucking itself over for being too ambitious.

FE9 for perfect pacing and world building. FE8 is pretty good too but the cast feels a bit flat and boring. I love FE4 but the second half of the game is pretty mediocre and really the only good parts of the game are the Eldigan subplot and Chapter 5.

oh boy I love having maps that take ten years to move your 50 fucking units around in lategame along with metroidvania style backtracking in 6 different directions on said map (complete with having to tediously select and move each unit a small number of tiles multiple times in a row just to get them to the location with no ability to mass auto-move) and impassable areas even fliers can’t go past due to completely arbitrary restrictions and invisible walls since the game can’t think of a more fluid way to prevent you from entering, all while having no ability to trade weapons and items on the fly for whatever reason leading to awful “Ok well you didn’t bring the right weapon and sorry you’re halfway into this 3 hour lategame chapter session but fuck you, either go back to your base across the map to sell and buy the weapon you need or since you likely only just found out as you’re encountering a particularly awful enemy with a bunch of bullshit weaponry go fuck yourself and restart the whole chapter” and did I forget to mention the wonderful marriage system that is not explained anywhere ingame at all and requires a massive guide and/or excel spreadsheeting capabilities but that still is not explained even slightly anywhere ingame even after the second part happens because SPOILERS the entire first cast dies and it’s the shocking turn of events so we wouldn’t want to give away the secret plot twist early or anything!

I almost feel like there should be different categories than just one overall “best plot”. I mean, FE4 has the most grandiose plot backbone being a political thriller, but it falters in execution at various points. FE5 is almost more of a short story / short form work given the focus on a small portion of the world and a small timespan, so it has that “cozyness” to it (which also means that it’s just a small blip in history). FE9 has arguably the most consistent plot and character focus and worldbuilding, but its scope and the things at stake aren’t as grandiose as FE4’s. And then, there is the “simplicity is complexity” approach of FE1/3 where it’s a classic hero out to save the world story…

Definitely agree with that, hell, Kris did something truly impressive in horrible avatar feats tbh. He’s one of two in all of gaming I’ve encountered that I hate. That’s pretty fucking impressive considering Kris originates from a series I don’t give two craps about plot in.

FE7’s plot is what happens when you try to tell a personal story in a time that doesn’t lend itself to a war, ergo FE’s entire premise, and then find out that can’t actually work 15 chapters in. FE7 probably has the best writing when it comes to character interactions and characters in general, but if you have great writers write a plot that can’t be anything but shit when it comes to the concept, you’re still gonna get a shit plot. Part of me wonders if that’s what happened to Fates because that game truly did have talented writers behind it, but the game just shat itself when it came to the execution.

The reason that I grouped them together is that, despite what you think of Kris, he really has no tangible impact on the outcome of events (everything related to him was a layer added over the existing FE3 plot, his newfound existence does not change the core progression of events in any meaningful way). Which, to be completely honest, I prefered the “minimal impact” self-insert approach to the “walking plot device with your face plastered over it” approach taken in subsequent games.

But hey, #DifferentStrokes.

MCProductions:

FE7’s plot is what happens when you try to tell a personal story in a time that doesn’t lend itself to a war, ergo FE’s entire premise, and then find out that can’t actually work 15 chapters in.

I disagree with the premise that a smaller-scale, character-driven story is inherently at-odds with the FE format. FE5 pulled off the smaller sense of scale well, and FE7x (albeit non-canon) is crafted in the same vein as FE7 (and I have no doubt that 7x will end up having a better plot than a majority of the FE series). FE7’s problem is in the execution and progression of the plot, not with the premise of a small-scale prequel. They didn’t want to contrive some great continental war 20 years before FE6 which would have been completely erased from everybody’s memory, so the approach is completely understandable.

FE1/3/11/12 and FE2 have very simple plots, they lack of character development due the absense of support conversations. FE12 tried to fix that with the base conversations, but still they feel very plain.
But I like the stories on those games, simple but solid, you learn a lot of the continent and the lore.

FE4 has a complex plot; politics, lore, families, conflicts, etc.
The first part is really good, but the second part feels like something is missing. The first part explains a lot of the world they are, the friction between countries and how they try handle those problems.
Meanwhile the second part is focused in the Lopto, the Crusaders and why the war started.
In both parts you don’t get to see all characters individually, most of them are there to fulfill an archetype (Like Holyn, Lynn, etc.). If you want to know more about them, you have to read the Designer’s Notes, but it would be better to know that in the game rather than outside of it.
Regardless of those details, this is my favorite plot of all.

FE5 is an expansion of FE4, it explains a lot of the Lopto and how Leaf reconquered his homeland. It’s not as complex as FE4, but is less confusing. You see the struggle of Leaf in detail and how he grows as a leader until the end of the quest.
I think everybody would like to see the characters of FE4 being developed as they did with Leaf.
Overall is a good story, even being just a part of a bigger story.

FE6, this story is one of the most complete of the saga, like FE4, it explains a lot of the politics and lore, and for the first time, we learn about secondary characters.
The support system was a very good improvement to the character development. Some of the things that don’t explain in the main story is explained here.
But Roy is not an interesting protagonist as the others were, I can’t recall something memorable of him aside from being the leader of his army. The people that were with him were more interesting, I remember a lot of Guinivere, Yodel and Elphin, I even can remember some of the things that Yahn and the others antagonists talked with Roy.

FE7 is ok, the plot is told in two points of view, and unlike Roy, Eliwood and Hector are interesting characters. You can see this in the two routes, how each handled the problems in different ways.
Again, the supports help to learn more about the story and the individual personality of the other characters.
I like this story, but it’s plain and not that interesting.

FE8 takes the concept of FE7 and improves it. Not only it’s an story seen from two points of view, but also they’re their own separate stories.
You see how Eirika changed from a fragile princess to a independent person. With Ephraim you see the consequences of the war, how it affected people like Duessel and Selena.
But, I don’t know why I found this story boring…

FE9 is other complex plot. They take their time to explain what you need to know, the division between Laguz and Beorc, the politics of each country and the current war.
Ike is a very curious character. A mercenary that doesn’t care about politics, yet he gets involved in the conflict between Crimea and Daein.
I like how this story is told, it’s not the noble prince that has to reconquer his homeland, is a mercenary that gets involved in the war trying to protect a person that he doesn’t know is a noble.
Then the history of the nations, you get to see the point of view of almost every country, their alliances and interactions with each other, something that was rarely exposed on previous games.
I can say that this is my second favorite plot, complex yet interesting.

FE10, plotholes, Blood contract ex machina, the lack of supports…
Aside from that, it explains things from FE9 that were left unanswered and it expands the lore of the continent. The story is focused on religion and the ambition. And for the first time, you can see the point of view of two opposing armies. Then it you learn that both sides were manipulated to awake the wrath of godess.
I liked how they divided the story in parts. First the reconstruction of Daein, then the internal conflict of Crimea, the war of Begnion and the Alliance, and then the war againts the godess.
I hope one day we’ll see another story developed in this way.

FE13… The first story arc was ok, but then it falls apart. They developed the story too fast. You barely learn about the continents and each country. The supports aren’t as informative as in previous games, because most of them are fanservice or unnecesary comedy.
The focus of the story changes abruptly from Chrom to Robin and Lucina. Chrom is even less interesting than Roy. Lucina is well developed, but Robin… self inserts are just dull and boring. They tried to give him an appealing personality for most people, and he ended being generic and pointless.
This game tried to hard to appeal new audiences, that it lost the point of a Fire Emblem.

FE14. This is how you don’t make a plot.
Why the f*ck you make two points of view and then make them pointless?
Both Nohr and Hoshido are a mess, unnecessary drama, drastic changes of personalities, useless support conversations, hollow characters…
You know nothing about each nation aside from them being in war since years ago, and that Nohr = Occidental style, and Hoshido = Oriental style.
Revelations reveals nothing, you learn nothing about Valla. If you want to learn all, you must pay the DLC.
Kamui is an inconsistent character. It changes a lot between routes to the point he can be a different character in each route.
Just because this sells, it doesn’t mean that it’s good. This game is filled with fanservice and anime clichés, and why? Because that sells more.
At this point they don’t care about a good plot and story telling, they just want to sell.

I don’t get why people hate on Fates’ plot that much.
I mean, it’s true that it has been executed poorly, and that there are way too many filler chapters, but overall it’s not terrible. Birthright is plain and perhaps boring, but that’s standard for most FE plots. Conquest is the most controversial of all, but I think it does good at delivering the feeling that you’ve made the most tragic choice. Revelation is OK, it feels a bit rushed and it could’ve been developed better, but the few story elements -altough poor in content- are solid.

Mikey_Seregon:

Kamui is an inconsistent character. It changes a lot between routes to the point he can be a different character in each route.

I think that’s the point, choices of that scale forge you into different kinds of people. It would be nonsensical for Corrin to be the same person despite the different experiences he’s been through. We’re not talking about hanging out with different groups of friends, but killing countless human beings, including your own family. That’s enough for people to develop different personalities.

tl;dr Just because it sells, it doesn’t mean it has to be the Devil incarnated.

Shit that came out of my arse was also at one point potentially delicious food. Should I look at that shit and say, “My, that looks delicious” or in some vein say “That poop was once delicious food and I should appreciate it as such”, no.
You just fucking flush the shit, jesus christ.

Fuck Awakening, fuck Fates.

Also, just a heads up on anyone who wanted to post in this topic. Weak Plot =//= Thin Plot.

So let me just ask then, should I forgive FE4’s biggest blunders in the form of Eldigan or Manfroy pulling a Dr.Evil, FE10’s never explained Blood Pact, Ninian being revived in FE7’s endgame because lol Brimimond can suddenly do that, or FE9 literally giving two of it’s characters literal plot armor. Every FE game has bullshit plots, and honestly, if your going to call Awakenings/Fates bad games because of their plots, I legit have to ask why you’re even playing this franchise to begin with. FE never has and never will be good or even decent at plot, and the occasions when it tries to do so are usually when it fucks up the hardest if Fates, RD, and FE4 are any indication. Granted, I’m the the asshole noob who defends Awankning/Fartes, so feel free to ignore this

You’re pointing out smaller things in the large schemes of the games whereas the backbone of Awakening and Fates is inherently flawed so everything you bring up in defence is futile because nothing will salvage the core of those games, at least in regards to writing(plot, pacing, dialogue, characters.)

You’re cherry picking small things that aren’t enough to even ruin the games and trying to compare them to the faults people have with A/F.Haven’t played FE4, as far as I know, even though the Blood Pact isn’t FULLY explained in the games you know who has it, how it relatively works and how to get rid of it, enough to understand it’s impact on the game and it’s role in the story. Sure it’s not the greatest idea in regards to originality or design but that’s irrelevant, it’s purpose is there and it works for that purpose. Ninian being revived only undermines her death which overall doesn’t hurt the story enough to make the games bad. 90% of games in existence has plot armour, and don’t bring up stupid examples to combat that. The mother in Fates dies, yeah, as a pathetic attempt to draw emotions out of the player not as a legitimate death. Gotta’ get 'dem kills in to make them think you’re top-shit, just go look at Danganronpa 3 and it’s fans to see this exact same issue in anime. Also, not every FE game has bullshit plots, some may be silly at times, stupid at times, pointless at times, but overall they’re strung together nice enough at least to provide a captivating experience. Awakening/Fates is silly, stupid and pointless throughout to the point where each chapter becomes a drag, an unnecessary slog through bland and boring maps filled with waves of enemies, they just aren’t interesting or engrossing in any manner. They try to partly cover this with attempts at “interesting” characters, by that I mean anime’s kind of interesting characters which are trope and cliche as all fuck. There’s even actual names like Tsundere for those stereotypes. Those characters that are completely defined by those traits have nothing else of value, it’s ridiculous.

Birthright is plain and perhaps boring, but that’s standard for most FE plots. Conquest is the most controversial of all, but I think it does good at delivering the feeling that you’ve made the most tragic choice.

This is why I didn’t liked Nohr at all, the entire story revolves around you feeling like garbage just because you chose the “evil” side. It seems that both plots were designed to empathize with Hoshido and to hate Nohr, while they advertised the routes in the total opposite way.
Hoshido was advertised as the peace-lover nation, but you end killing almost everything here. Nohr was advertised as the blood-thirsty nation, but you end being afraid to hurt a fly.

Hoshido is plain, and at certain degree, pointless, 60% of the story you’re looking for your brothers, then filler and then some plan to conquer Nohr. And don’t forget the Leo ex Machina, that two use tome was extremely convenient, and for some reason it isn’t mentioned on Nohr.

Nohr, well, drama everywhere, you have to earn the respect of a father that wants you death, you have to convince your brothers and then try to expose your father. I only liked this over Hoshido because you’re trying to conquer the other nation, you have a clear goal unlike in Hoshido.

AlfredKamon:

I think that’s the point, choices of that scale forge you into different kinds of people. It would be nonsensical for Corrin to be the same person despite the different experiences he’s been through. We’re not talking about hanging out with different groups of friends, but killing countless human beings, including your own family. That’s enough for people to develop different personalities.

Even with the different experiences in both routes, a person at least has a defined personality, what you gain with those experiences is see how that person handles the events.
Changing from a hero that kills everything is moving in Hoshido to a scared person that is tormenting itself in Nohr simply doesn’t make sense.
Kamui could have the same philosophy of don’t hurt anyone in Hoshido too, but screw that, he is the almighty hero that kills the forces of evil. Or being strong and determined in Nohr, instead of regret his choice every time he can.
And in Revelations you don’t get to see everything about Kamui, here the story is focused on the mystery of Valla and Aqua that you see almost nothing about Kamui, here he feels like a generic hero.

MCProductions:

Every FE game has bullshit plots, and honestly, if your going to call Awakenings/Fates bad games because of their plots, I legit have to ask why you’re even playing this franchise to begin with.

Awakening and Fates aren’t bad games, in fact the gameplay of Fates is really good. They just fail to tell their story in a solid way as the previous games did.
Everyone knows that all the stories of the other games aren’t perfect or make complete sense, but the way they tell their story is very consistent and focused. Fates and Awakening are too busy with the anime themes and the stereotypes to tell the story properly.